The Greatest Gift Of All
by The Raider
Summary: Continuation from "Changes","Everything Small And Tiny", & "The New Kitten". Oneshot. It's Willow, Tara, and Samantha's first Christmas as a family, and Willow has been waiting for weeks to give Tara the gift that she poured so much thought and consideration into...A gift that will change their lives once again...


**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy or any of the characters. They belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.**

* * *

**The Greatest Gift Of All  
**

"Are you _really_ going to pout about this?" Looking down at her wife as she continued to hang decorations around the apartment, Tara frowned. "Honey, we're supposed to be having fun. It's Samantha's first Christmas."

"We don't all worship Santa God, remember?" Lifting her gaze from her drink to the other Wiccan's face, Willow pushed out her bottom lip into a pout. "And you're too busy with decorating to give me snuggles..."

"Poor baby." Stepping down off of the ladder that she had been standing upon, the blonde Wiccan slowly and seductively walked towards her wife. "Nobody's paying any attention to poor Willow."

"Oh Goddess, do I have to put up with vixen-y Tara now?" A smile coming to her face as she felt the woman pulling her to her feet, the red-head saw that oh so familiar sideways grin coming to her wife's lips. "I don't know if I can handle that…"

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Her blue irises dancing as they absorbed the sight of the other woman's face, Tara softly pressed her lips against the waiting pair in front of her. Linking her arms around her wife's neck, Willow mentally smiled at knowing she now had the other Wiccan's complete and undivided attention. After a few bliss filled moments of kissing, Tara finally broke the kiss and leaned forward until she and her wife were forehead-to-forehead. "Unless you want to take this little attention getter into the other room…where no-one could hear anything…"

"I might be able to do that…" Smiling back at Tara somewhat, the Wiccan felt her heart beating excitedly inside her chest, the origin of it a mix of the sensations of Tara's touch, and the news that she was amazed to have hid from her better half for so long. "But we have guests coming over soon, remember?"

"I'm sure we could always find a way to slip away and find an empty bed somewhere…" Her sideways grin refusing to falter, Tara brought her hands to rest on her wife's hips. "After all, I'm sure you want to be on the naughty list, don't you?"

"But I haven't been naughty, and-" As she started her response, the sound of the doorbell echoed through the room. Turning her head at the sound, Tara sighed.

"Seems our guests are starting to arrive…" Giving another sigh, the blonde Wiccan returned her gaze to her wife's pools of green. "Guess we'll have to explore that locked room later, won't we?"

* * *

"Oh, Tara, she looks just like you!" Sitting down beside the older girl, Dawn smiled brightly. "I can't believe it's taken us this long to finally see her again."

"You live so far away, that's why." Giggling slightly as she held her daughter in her lap, Tara tilted her head in order to look at Samantha's face. "Doesn't she? You don't like your Aunt Dawn being so far away."

"I might be going to college up here though, so I might not be so far away anymore." Still smiling, the younger Summers girl held out her hands. "Can I hold her for a while?"

"Oh course, sweetie." Gently handing her daughter over to the girl, the Wiccan pushed herself off of the couch once she was sure that Samantha was safely in Dawn's arms. "I'll be right back."

"Ok." Smiling as she heard the infant in her arms giggling, Dawn leaned back into the couch, and held out her finger for Samantha to grab onto.

"Willow?" Making her way through the small crowd that had gathered in their living room, the Wiccan caught sight of a head of red-hair, and swiftly moved across the floor towards the woman. Noticing the way her wife was leaning against the wall, silent and unmoving, Tara furrowed her brow as she started to wonder what was wrong.

"Enjoying yourself sweetie?" As she came up behind her wife, her expression changed to a slightly annoyed one as she caught sight of what the woman held in her hand. "Eggnog? You know you're not supposed to have that. It makes your tummy upset, remember?"

"What can I say? I'm a naughty girl, aren't I?" Smiling slyly at her better half as she turned slightly, Willow took another sip of the drink she held in her hand. "Guess Santa isn't coming for me this year."

"I thought he was here already…judging by your hat." Gesturing towards the Santa cap that her wife was wearing, Tara smiled. "Although I wonder if your cute little bottom is as red as your hair…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Perking up her eyebrow questioningly, Willow took another sip of her drink.

"Sometimes Mrs. Claus comes along, and spanks the bad little girls on the naughty list…" Her vixen-y smile from an hour earlier returning to her face, Tara took a step closer to her wife. "I'm wondering if she's been here yet…"

"You think she's coming tonight?" Using her free hand to take hold of her wife's fingers, the red-head smiled. "I don't know if I've been naughty or not…"

"I'm sure you'll know later, when everyone's gone, Samantha's asleep, and we've got the entire apartment to ourselves…" Chuckling underneath her breath as she spoke, Tara rubbed her thumb against the red-head's hand. "After all, I do like my red-heads nice and red."

"You know, Tara, you should…look…up…" Following her wife's suggestion, the blonde Wiccan raised her gaze until she caught sight of the hanging mistletoe above herself and Willow. Almost able to sense how much the other Wiccan was grinning, Tara rolled her eyes.

"You planned all this, didn't you?" Returning her attention to Willow's expression, Tara began to lean in closer to the other Wiccan's face. "You…naughty…little…girl…"

"Maybe I did…and maybe…I…didn't…" Mimicking her wife's actions and speech, Willow continued to smile even though their lips were only inches apart. "Do you…like…it?"

"Indeed…I do…" Finally pressing her lips against the pair awaiting her gentle and loving touch, the blonde Wiccan felt her wife wrapping her hands around her waist, pulling her as close as she possibly could be while the two of them were still fully clothed. The party in the connecting room momentarily forgotten, the two Wiccans lost themselves in the feelings and sensations of each other's touch. Her tongue probing the other woman's lips until her efforts granted her entry to her wife's mouth, Willow couldn't help but continue to think about the news that she was still so focused on. Even now, with her body nearly on fire from her wife's kisses, her mind repeated the news over and over again without end.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Breaking the kiss in order to ask her better half the question, the blonde Wiccan could sense how tense Willow was starting to become. "Does your tummy hurt?"

"A little…" Looking away as she saw her wife's gaze falling upon her, the red-head squirmed in her socks. "Not from the eggnog though…"

"Then what's wrong? Are you getting sick?"

"No…um…I've kinda got some news, baby…"

"Oh?" Perking up her eyebrow, Tara retained her hold on her wife's hand. "What kind of news? Did they accept your program at work?"

"No…I mean yes, but that's not the news I'm thinking about right now…It's kinda about what I got you for Christmas…" Continuing to avoid answering her wife's question, Willow felt Tara's fingers gently, but firmly take hold of her chin and force her to meet the other Wiccan's blue eyes.

"Then what's the matter? Sweetie, talk to me."

"Tara…you might wanna sit down for this..." Taking a deep breath as she saw her better half nod. "I'm…sorta…kinda…definitely…pregnant."

"What?" Her eyes widening as she heard the red-head's answer circling around her brain, Tara couldn't avoid letting the shock she was feeling sink into her voice's tone. "Sweetie, are you sure?"

"Mhm." Nodding, Willow could feel her wife's grip on her hand increasingly ever so slightly. "I wanted to surprise you, so I k-kinda asked Xander to…donate again…and here I am, a few weeks later, and I'm preggers…"

"Sweetie, w-why?" Seeing the other woman flinch for a second, Tara added a small smile to her question. "I'm not angry, far from it, but I just…why now? Samantha's only a year old…"

"I wanted to give you a Christmas present…one that would show you how much I love you…" Blushing slightly, Willow leaned back against the wall behind her. "So I kinda knocked myself up…"

"And y-you're sure?" Reaching out with her free hand, Tara laid her hand against her wife's stomach. "Did y-you go to the doctor?"

"Yep. I'm pregnant, Tara, I'm really pregnant." Smiling as she felt a small tear starting to well up in her eye, Willow laughed somewhat. "I'm gonna have a baby."

"Yes, you are." Pulling her wife to her in a hug, the blonde Wiccan felt a small tear fall down her cheek, coming to rest on her chin before it was absorbed by the dress the other woman was wearing.

"_We're_ going to have another baby." Correcting her wife as she hugged the Wiccan back, Willow finally allowed the tears she had been holding back make their descent down her cheeks. "Merry Christmas, baby."

"Willow, sweetie, you didn't have to do this." Shaking her head while happy tears continued to stream down her face, Tara only hugged her wife tighter.

"I wanted to, Tara. I love you so much…I just wanted to give you what you gave me…" Taking a small step back from the hug she was receiving, the red-head could only smiled as happy tears continued to stream down her wet cheeks. "I want to give you another child…"

_"Oh…my…god…"_ Turning around as they both heard a familiar voice squeaking in excitement, the two Wiccans found Dawn standing only a few feet away, a now giggling Samantha held in her arms.

"Hey Dawnie, something wrong?" Offering the girl a smile, Willow wiped away some of her tears onto the back of her sleeve. "You look excited."

"Wait, Willow you're…?" Her eyes widening as she continued to hold Samantha, Dawn's smile stretched ear-to-ear. "Oh my god!"

"Easy Dawnie, no need to have a heart-attack over me." Still smiling, the red-head looked down at her daughter resting in the younger girl's arms. "Mind if I have Sam for a while?"

"Yeah, yeah sure…" Gently but somewhat urgently handing the infant over to Willow's waiting arms, Dawn could barely suppress her squeal of excitement as she continued to look happily at the two women in front of her. "Oh my god, I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Dawnie, easy, you look like you're gonna explode at any minute…" Giggling softly before looking down at the infant in her arms, the red-headed Wiccan smiled brighter as she heard Samantha echoing her giggling.

"I know, but, I mean you're gonna, and Willow you're, and that means you two are gonna have…_EEEH!"_ Unable to hold in her excitement any longer, Dawn finally let out a subdued squeal, the sound causing a few heads to turn within the group situated behind her. Looking at them, Tara smiled and gave them a small wave, almost breathing a sigh of relief as she saw the heads looking at them turn away and return to the conversations that they had been involved in before.

"I can't believe you're going to have a baby!" Whispering her excited statement, the youngest Summers girl almost found herself jumping with excitement. "I mean, Tara had one, and now you're gonna have one, Willow! It's so exciting!"

"I know Dawnie, but why don't we just keep this between us for a while, ok? Just until we see the Doctor and everything. We wanna make sure Willow's ok."

"Ok, I can do that…can I just say how much I love you gu-" Stopping in mid-sentence as she heard her name being called, Dawn stopped and rolled her eyes slightly. "Buffy's calling me, I'll be right back."

"Take your time, we're not going anywhere." Offering the girl a smile, Tara wrapped her arm around her wife's waist as Willow continued to make Samantha giggle. As she gently rested her head atop the other woman's shoulder, she kept smiling, her lips refusing to assume any form of expression. Turning her head slightly so that she could look at the pair of blue eyes that she loved so much, Willow giggled again.

"Still think I'm gonna be on the naughty list tonight?" She whispered, even though she knew that the music playing in the living room was loud enough that she wouldn't be overheard.

"Oh definitely. You've been so naughty, hiding things from me that I should have known right away." Smirking, Tara pressed her lips gently against her wife's cheek, earning another burst of giggles from the red-head. "I love you so much, sweetie."

"I know, baby. Your mine, and I'm yours. You're my _everything."_

* * *

"Come on, Sammy, smile for the camera." Summoning the widest smile that she could manage, Willow saw the unmistakable blinding sight of the flash from a digital camera flooding her vision for the faintest of seconds before it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Lowering the camera from the position she had been holding it in, Buffy smiled.

"Another family portrait for you guys."

"I guess." Giggling slightly, Willow found Samantha looking up at her, her tiny eyes showing the faintest glint of exhaustion in their greenish color. "I'm gonna put Samantha down in her crib. She's starting to look all tuckered out."

"Ok, sweetie." Leaning over in order to give the other Wiccan a small peck on the cheek, Tara gave her a daughter a kiss goodnight before following Buffy back into the living room. With her infant daughter still held in her arms, the red-head slowly opened the door down the hallway and entered. Making her way across the darkened room, Willow gently set her daughter down into her crib, the infant looking up at her somewhat curiously.

"Time to go night-nights, Sammy." Grinning at her daughter, the red-head switched on the baby monitor as she reached for a nearby blanket. "Tomorrow's Christmas. Hopefully Santa God left you some presents."

Hearing nothing more than a slight gibberish filled sentence, Willow giggled and leaned down in order to kiss her daughter on the forehead.

"Night, Sammy. Guess I don't need to tell you what kinda surprise I gave your Momma tonight." Smiling as she tucked the blanket underneath her daughter, Willow rested her arms on the side of the crib and stared up at the opposing wall, the drywall decorated with a photo take only half an hour after Samantha's birth. "You're gonna have a little brother soon…or a sister…I'm kinda unaware of the gender-y parts yet…"

Hearing a small giggle from Samantha as the infant's sole response, the Wiccan continued.

"But…I wanted to give your Momma the same thing that she gave me. When you were born, after the entire thing with the screaming, and the almost crushing my hand, it was one of the greatest days of my life. And nobody was happier than your Momma. I just…I want her to feel what I felt, watching you be born, holding her hand to let her know everything was gonna be ok…all of it. Granted, I'm gonna be screaming my lungs out, but…you get the point."

"I just wanna give her someone like you." Looking back down at the infant she had been speaking to, Willow almost found herself aweing at how her infant daughter had fallen asleep in the short two or three minutes that she had been softly speaking to her. Carefully checking to make sure that the blanket she had laid atop the infant was still covering her, the Wiccan quietly tip-toed out of the room, shutting the door behind her, and went to rejoin the party in the living room that was slowly beginning to die down.

* * *

"You're going back to the Doctor's tomorrow, first thing." As she crawled into bed in order to join her wife, Tara smiled. "Understood, naughty little girl?"

"Understood." Giggling as she scootched herself closer to the Wiccan, Willow smiled just as bright as the woman in front of her. "Although I think being naughty and hiding this from you was well worth it. Merry Christmas, baby."

"Merry Christmas, Willow." Leaning in closer, the blonde Wiccan gave her red-head a small kiss on the lips before moving back in order to stare in the beautiful pools of green that attentively watched her. "I don't think I can give you anything as beautiful and thoughtful as what you gave m-"

As she pressed a single finger against her wife's lips, Willow smiled and giggled as the Wiccan fell silent almost immediatly.

"You gave me a little bundle of joy last year. You don't think that made me all Finey McFine? I'm simply giving you the same joy that you gave me."

"Is that so?" As the other woman moved her finger away from her lips, Tara felt her smile return to her face. "Then I guess we're even now..."

"Would appear that way, wouldn't it, Mrs. Maclay?" Trailing her finger along the bared portion of her wife's arm, the red-headed Wiccan couldn't help but stare at the woman with what some would describe as 'bed-room eyes'.

"Indeed it would, Mrs. Rosenberg. Whatever do you think we should do now?" Noticing the almost hungry look in her wife's eyes, the blonde Wiccan reduced her ear-to-ear grin to her trademark sideways smirk, and mimicked the look she was being given. "Although I'm sure between the two of us we have some ideas..."

"Couldn't agree more." Leaning in closer to the other Wiccan's lips, Willow could almost feel Tara's lips touching her own before a familiar cry echoed through the open door from the room across the hall. Giving a small giggle as she remained motionless, Tara gazed into the green irises inches away from her own sparkling pair of blues.

"I guess someone has other ideas of how we can spend our Christmas Eve..." Rolling her eyes playfully as she started to move off of the bed, Willow felt a gentle but firm hand take hold of her arm.

"Uh-uh, you stay in bed, sweetie. Starting now you're just another baby to me." Her sideways grin still adorning her lips, the blonde Wiccan returned to her feet. "No unnecessary things for you until our baby is out and about in a few months."

"So I get the full Princess treatment?" Grinning at her wife's statement, Willow leaned back into the soft mattress and pillow as Tara slowly made her way around the bed and headed for the door. "I get to be Princess Willow again!"

"Because that worked out so well the first time when you got your job." Her tone leaking sarcasm, the blonde Wiccan nevertheless leaned down to give her wife a small kiss on her red-hair adorned forehead before resting her hand on the door. "I couldn't take you anywhere without you demanding to be treated like royalty."

"I was a Princess. I had to do that!" Giggling again, the red-head sank down into the warm red sheets beneath her. "You were my loyal and loving servant."

"And I had to suffer through so many requested cuddles." Slowly pulling the door open, Tara gave her wife one last sideways grin before disappearing out into the hallway, Samantha's cries continuing to fill out both her room and the connecting apartment. Closing her eyes as her woman left the room momentarily, Willow snaked her hand underneath her pajama top and gently rubbed her stomach, almost entirely able to imagine the child just beginning to develop inside her.

"You and me..." Opening her green eyes for a single moment, the red-headed Wiccan giggled somewhat at the entire idea of the state she was in. "We're going to get _so_ many cuddles, I promise."


End file.
